State's secretary of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection drowns in Lake Superior, Madison school district to require proof of age for students who don't live with parents

Rod Nilsestuen, the state's secretary of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, drowns while swimming in Lake Superior. Earlier in the day, the 62-year-old helped build a Habitat for Humanity house in Marquette, Mich., with his church.

The state Government Accountability Board rejects challenges to the nomination papers filed by U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Madison) for her reelection. The complaints argued that Baldwin listed her office, not her home, on petitions, but state election officials have long allowed her to use the office address because of threats she's received.

Thursday, 7.22

Nicholas Chiarkas, 67, announces he'll retire next January as Wisconsin's state public defender. He plans to focus on writing novels, the first of which he's already written, about mob recruitment of teenagers in 1957.

Friday, 7.23

The Madison school district announces a new policy to require proof of age when registering students who live with people other than their parents or guardians. The decision comes after a 21-year-old man charged in an April gang killing had enrolled in Madison's West High and later transferred to Middleton High, using a fake name and age.

Sunday, 7.25

The Wisconsin State Journal publishes comments from Edgewater developer Bob Dunn, lashing out at two residents - Fred Mohs and Eugene Devitt - who filed a lawsuit trying to overturn the city's approval of the project. Dunn calls the lawsuit "frivolous" and threatens to file his own lawsuit for damages "in the millions."

Monday, 7.26

U.S. Magistrate Judge Stephen Crocker allows a prosecutor to garnishee 25% of the wages of Peter Daniel Young, an activist who freed mink from several Midwestern fur farms in 1997. Young, who was released from prison in 2007, has been ordered to pay the farms $235,500.

Dane County District Attorney Brian Blanchard finds that Dane County sheriff deputies involved in a July 20 fatal shooting in McFarland acted appropriately. The deputies were attempting to put a video camera in a window when Scott Stevens, 47, opened fire on them.

Tuesday, 7.27

Timothy R. Hoger, 45, is charged with second-degree sexual assault for allegedly fondling a 25-year-old developmentally disabled woman last November in a locker room at the YMCA, 711 Cottage Grove Road. Hoger denies the charges.

Wednesday, 7.28.10

Two men are arraigned on charges of first-degree sexual assault and kidnapping. Police say Andrew James Meinholz, 20, of Middleton, and Aaron Thomas Gilbert, 21, of Madison, abducted an 18-year-old woman from Quarry Skate Park in Middleton on July 17 and sexually assaulted her, then took her to Milwaukee, where they attempted to solicit sexual clients for her.